


i can keep you warm till spring comes

by lavenderjungwoo



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Age Play Little Mark Lee (NCT), Age Regression/De-Aging, Angst with a Happy Ending, Caregiver Johnny, Cuddle time!, Don't like it don't read, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Lowercase, M/M, Multi, Non-Sexual Age Play, bath time!, caregiver Taeyong, little mention of blood, lots of kisses!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-19
Updated: 2020-07-19
Packaged: 2021-03-05 06:07:12
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,057
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25379614
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lavenderjungwoo/pseuds/lavenderjungwoo
Summary: taeyong buttons up mark’s top and smooths out the collar before kissing mark’s cheek. “you’re so pretty markie.” he says, and presses another kiss into mark’s hair. mark looks up at him with his sparkly eyes, slowly blinking as a shy smile spreads across his face.
Relationships: Lee Taeyong/Suh Youngho | Johnny, Mark Lee/ Lee Taeyong, Mark Lee/Lee Taeyong/Suh Youngho | Johnny, Mark Lee/Suh Youngho | Johnny
Comments: 8
Kudos: 236





	i can keep you warm till spring comes

**Author's Note:**

> i've never written anything like this so,, hope it's not too bad, but i have a soft spot for little mark :( 
> 
> title is from 'she likes spring, i prefer winter' by slchld <3

entering the apartment quietly, mark tugs off his shoes with a soft sigh and shuffles into the kitchen. his feet ache and he attempts to warm up his trembling hands as he heads to the sink.

he fills a mug of water and tries to drink it, lifting it up to his lips, but he feels his arm shaking with fatigue.

"fuck." he murmurs, not realising he was that tired out from his work shift. his boss had been a dick again, and he'd found himself in the stock room, willing himself not to get upset and tiredly rubbing his eyes. 

he nodded dutifully when he was scolded, even though it was wrongfully, and looked up from the ground when he was told to. staring nervously into his bosses disappointed face, he bit the inside of his cheek and felt the tangy blood on his tongue. finally, mark had turned back to the register, just as his eyes began to fill with tears.

he drops the mug into the sink, and it splits clean in half. as he got more tired and upset, he felt his headspace creeping in little by little. his lip trembles at this - johnny and taeyong are gonna be angry. 

mark tries to be big and pick up the broken shards himself, but he's scared of cutting his fingers.

"mark?" johnny calls out from his bedroom, and mark panics - he can’t let johnny know he dropped something. he scrambles to pick up the mug with a cloth, but cuts his hand. he cries out in pain, dropping the mug shard onto the floor and clutching his hand.

johnny quickly gets up from his desk, closing his book when he hears mark's little cry. he goes into the kitchen to see mark crouched on the floor over something. 

mark’s small hunched frame is shaking slightly and johnny’s eyes soften in concern. taeyong comes out of his room too, anxiously following johnny.

"mark-ah?" johnny tries, gently stepping around to see he's trying to pick up a broken mug. as he gets closer, he sees mark clutching his hand.

"oh baby, let me get you a plaster." johnny croons, immediately reaching for the medicine cabinet. "do you want the kitten ones? or the space ones?” he says, holding up the two colourful boxes. taeyong goes to get the dustpan to quickly clear up the mug, when he stops.

“the normal ones. ‘m not a child.” mark grits out, although his voice wobbles slightly as he tries to suppress the pain of his hand. johnny furrows his brow at this, and looks at a helpless taeyong.

it’s been a while since mark regressed, and he knows that’s not healthy for him at all. johnny and taeyong have been pretty occupied recently so he had mostly kept to himself, and taeyong had even accused the younger of avoiding the pair.

mark had angrily argued out he was tired and stressed from work, and tearfully headed back to his room, and that was the end of that. 

“here you go.” johnny says, handing mark a regular plaster. the younger takes it hesitantly, murmuring a little thanks. 

when he lets go of his finger, he sees red and his bottom lip trembles. he was not very good with blood usually, and he winces when he tries to put the plaster on. johnny reaches out wordlessly to help him and mark snatches away his hand.

“mark-ah, why are you being like this?” taeyong asks, coming over with his hand hovering over mark’s hunched frame. both johnny and mark are crouched on the floor now, the broken mug still in front of them. mark scowls slightly and gets up.

“like what?” he huffs, not looking either of them in the eye. johnny looks up at him in confusion, and partly irritation. he doesn’t understand why mark is being so stubborn and making everything so difficult, especially when its clear he’s struggling.

“mark,” he begins sternly. he gets up, so he’s towering over the other, but mark still looks at the ground and ignores him. “mark, look at me when i’m talking to you.” he almost growls, and mark flinches, looking up with tears in his eyes. “why won’t you let us take care of you?”

mark says nothing, his hands now fumbling with the edge of his hoodie. taeyong wordlessly goes to mark and runs a soothing hand down his side. he feels the younger wilt under his touch slightly, and he takes the opportunity to pull him in for a hug. 

his hand comes up to the back of mark’s neck, softly stroking the hair there. mark breathes in taeyong’s gentle scent, although he still begins to sob. he can’t believe he got to this state, he’s so dumb. he hates himself and taeyong and johnny probaby hate him too. 

in alarm, taeyong pulls him away and mark wails pitifully. 

“appa!” he cries, his nose beginning to run and he looks truly sorrowful. johnny opens his arms and scoops mark up. he hushes the boy in his arms , and mark relaxes slightly as he feels the warmth radiating from johnny’s arms.

the elder focuses on hushing the younger cradled against his broad chest, but he shares a look with taeyong. 

“appa is here markie, don’t worry.” he soothes, running a hand through mark’s hair. taeyong sweeps up the mug, carefully collecting all the shards and placing them in the bin.  
almost without a second thought, taeyong gets out a mug and fills it with milk. caring for mark like this had become second nature for him, and he hardly blinks when mark slips into his headspace. he places the mug in the microwave to prepare mark’s bottle. 

mark cries out at the loud beeping sound, his hands flying out to clamp over his ears and he presses closer to the chest, hiding himself from the intrusion.

taeyong immediately switches off the microwave and takes out the mug, being careful to not clink it against anything. mark flinches when the mug is placed on the counter, and johnny’s other hand starts to stroke mark’s back worridley.

taeyong and johnny share a more urgent look; it’s clear on both of their faces that neither understand what is happening. they sit quietly for a moment, the only sounds are mark’s laboured breathing and the faint hum of traffic outside.

mark’s fists ball into johnny’s shirt tightly, and johnny eventually lifts mark’s head away from his chest. “what’s up baby, don’t you want your milk?” he asks, peering into mark’s face. 

he refrains from cooing at the boy, when the younger looks up at him. his cheeks are puffy and his eyes are so pretty when they’re glossy like this, slightly glazed and distant as he slips into his headspace further with the pet name.

he sucks on his lip slightly. “no, wan’ milk.” he says sulkily, before burrowing his head back into johnny. he looks over to taeyong, who raises his eyebrow in confusion, and motions to the stove.

johnny nods, and taeyong begins to prepare mark’s bottle manually on the stove, using the opportunity to stir in a sweet spoonful of honey, as he knows mark likes.

johnny gently places mark on one of the kitchen stools, and mark sniffles, curling in on himself. taeyong carefully stirs the milk whilst anxiously glancing over to johnny and mark. 

“baby, you need to wait here.” johnny says firmly, and mark’s lips quiver and tears fill his round doe eyes again. “i need to get the bed ready. don’t you want all your things out?” he asks, voice a little softer this time.

mark looks down at the ground, fiddling with the edges of his plaster now. he looks so small, hunched up in his grey hoodie that swallows his thin frame. 

“taeyongie needs to finish your milk first.” taeyong says, leaning over to stroke mark’s arm. the boy still flinches every time the spoon hits the saucepan, so taeyong stops stirring and lets the milk boil slightly. 

“wan go in mommy’s bed.” mark murmurs eventually, and taeyong nods. 

“no problem markie.” he smiles, and signals johnny to go fix up taeyong’s room.

johnny goes to mark’s room first, hunting for his little lion plush. he finds it tucked into mark’s sheets, and he feels his heart clench when he realises mark must’ve been cuddling this to sleep every night, without him or taeyong. 

he tidies mark’s bed and picks up some of the discarded clothes and puts them in the hamper, making a note to properly clean it with taeyong in the morning. he doesn’t even have the heart to think about scolding mark for making such a mess.

johnny then heads to taeyong’s room, and goes into the closet where mark’s special box is at the bottom. mark seems a little shy in his headspace tonight, he thinks, so johnny doesn’t bother with the majority of items.

he puts aside the toys, books and paccies, to find mark’s favourite blanket. it has his soft, natural boyish scent clinging to it still and johnny places it on the end of taeyong’s bed. the blue star pattern contrasts with the pure white of taeyong’s duvet, yet fits right in. perhaps, how mark fitted in with taeyong and johnny. 

he hears a giggle from the kitchen, and can’t help the grin that erupts across his face. he exits taeyong’s room, and sees taeyong gently tickling underneath mark’s chin. 

tonight he’d chosen mark’s cute little giraffe bottle, with zoo patterns all over the clear plastic, and mark has already drunk half of it. 

“no drink for me?” johnny pouts, and taeyong shakes his head.

“make it yourself, lazy.” taeyong says , putting his hands firmly on his hips and johnny pretends to cry. mark laughs slightly, and offers out his own bottle. 

“no markie its okay.” johnny laughs, and taeyong runs his hand through mark’s hair. 

“let’s get you washed.” taeyong says, and mark pouts. “do you wanna bath with appa and mommy?” he suggests, and mark nods eagerly. 

once mark has finished his milk, they head to the shared bathroom. johnny starts to run the water, whilst taeyong helps mark undress. the boy shivers slightly when the cool air hits his bare skin, but the steam from the bath water soon warms up the room. 

with the three of them working, they had luckily been able to rent a large apartment with three bedrooms so the boys could have their own space when needed, but meant they sacrificed a proper living or dining area, and their kitchen was pitifully small. 

it also meant they only had one bathroom but this hadn’t bothered them in the slightest. with one bathroom, they had a huge bathtub that could squeeze all of them in, although they probably had taeyong’s petite frame and mark’s smallness to thank for that. taeyong and johnny had yet to discuss with mark, but they both planned to work much harder, so mark could quit his dumb job and they could buy a better place all together. 

however, even though he was their little, mark wanted to be a helpful and independent boyfriend in working hard and providing his share to the other two, which johnny found so precious. it was one of the many reasons he loved mark so, so much.

mark makes a whiny noise, shifting johnny’s attention back to the room. taeyong pours in his own lavender bubble bath and swirls it around, making lots of soapy bubbles for them to play around with. johnny quickly strips, laughing as his toned physique never fails to make taeyong choke on air slightly, and slips into the bath. mark squeals happily, he's so excited to washed, especially in his mommy's special lavender soaps.

taeyong gently dips into the water, and takes mark’s hand to guide him into the tub too. johnny sits at the head, with taeyong next to him, and mark sits between their legs, facing them with a shy smile. 

johnny scoops up a pile of bubbles and blows them at taeyong, who wrinkles his nose and bats them away. mark does the same, and taeyong pouts. 

“my two boys ganging up on me!” he scolds, and johnny winks at mark. taeyong takes the shampoo, and washes johnny’s hair, tugging it when johnny wriggles around too much, and using his fingers to thoroughly clean his hair. johnny does the same, washing taeyong’s white locks with the fragrant shampoo and combing his fingers through it. 

he steals a kiss, catching taeyong entirely off guard, before they turn their attention to mark. in contrast to how johnny had simply said “get wet” and grabbed the back of taeyong’s neck and shoved taeyong’s whole head under the water, taeyong gets the little jug off the shelf.

mark turns around obediently so he has his back to them, and shuffles closer to taeyong. the elder places his hand gently at mark’s hair line, and carefully pours water with the jug to wet mark’s hair. his fingers run through mark’s hair softly, massaging in the shampoo before rinsing. mark leans into his touch, and the elder pair share a smile as mark falls silent.

they quickly get out of the bath once their skin starts to prune, and johnny takes care in towelling mark’s messy black hair dry. in each of their rooms, they have a spare change of each other’s clothes, as more often than not, their nights would end with them sharing beds. 

johnny finds one of his own comfy sleep shirts, and boxers, whilst finding mark’s blue plaid pyjama set. taeyong pulls on an oversized white t-shirt, that probably once belonged to johnny, and some blue pyjama shorts. they both help mark dress, his eyes adorably heavy with sleep. 

taeyong buttons up mark’s top and smooths out the collar before kissing mark’s cheek. “you’re so pretty markie.” he says, and presses another kiss into mark’s hair. mark looks up at him with his sparkly eyes, slowly blinking as a shy smile spreads across his face.

johnny tugs up mark’s pants, and gives mark a little kiss on the nose. “what taeyong said.” he says with a smile, and takes mark’s hand to sit on the bed. mark’s toes wriggle in excitement when they sit on the bed together, its his favourite thing in the world to sleep with his boyfriends.

“now,” taeyong begins, and he places a hand on mark’s knee. “are we going to talk about what just happened?” he says, and mark shifts, stilling his legs.

he feels the increasingly serious atmosphere and sucks on his lip again. he helplessly looks over to johnny who just stares at him, anticipating. 

he shrugs, looking down at his fingers and playing with the plaster again. “i dunno.” he whispers.

“what was all that with the microwave, markie, hmm?” taeyong probes further, and johnny’s hand comes to play at the back of his neck. he motions for taeyong to back off slightly, he didn’t want the younger to get upset again, especially in his headspace.

“i-i don’t know.” mark says, and his voice cracks slightly, he hates how warbly he sounds. “everything just got… too loud?” he says, and he turns into johnny’s chest, instinctively sucking in the fabric of johnny’s shirt and chewing on it. 

johnny feels the boy’s body relax, and he doesn’t want to spoil the atmosphere so he allows mark to drool all over his shirt. 

“sensory overload?” taeyong murmurs, looking at johnny in confusion, johnny nods, looking down at mark and running his hand over his back. he feels mark go slack at his soothing touch.

“it’s possible. he must be so stressed, he hasn't regressed in god knows how long.” he says sadly, and taeyong nods, peeling back the covers of his bed. “he needs to quit that job, and we need to pay more damn attention.” johnny says, and taeyong nods again. they fall silent, both listening to the faint sounds of mark’s chewing, the wet fabric bunched up in his mouth.

“let’s get into bed markie.” taeyong says, running a hand through mark’s hair. he pulls away slowly from johnny’s shirt, drool at the corner of his mouth and eyes glassy. johnny pulls off his shirt, tossing it in the corner, as he didn’t feel like sleeping in a shirt with a wet patch sticking to his skin. 

once he’s found himself a new shirt, he turns round to see taeyong in bed with mark clinging to him, hardly keeping his eyes open.

“oh markie baby, you’re so adorable.” he coos softly, getting into taeyong’s bed which sinks with his weight, and taeyong smiles warmly. it’s only a double, so its a bit of a squeeze, but they don’t mind being all pressed together. in fact, it’s almost nicer this way.

johnny lays down on the other side of mark, propping himself up on his elbow to watch the other two. mark pulls away from taeyong to lie on his back, with his two boyfriends squished up on either side of him.

johnny gently tickles the side of mark’s ribcage and he giggles, helplessly squirming when taeyong joins in. they play around like this for a while, before mark really does start to drop off.

taeyong tucks the lion plushie into mark’s arms, and drapes his leg over mark’s. he presses yet another kiss into mark’s hair, breathing in his clean boy scent and strokes mark’s face once, softly. 

johnny flicks off the lamp, and lets his hand travel over mark to squeeze taeyong’s hand. in the faint light trickling from outside that illuminates the room and their faces, he sees the white haired boy smile, and johnny looks down too at mark’s face of bliss snuggled between the warmth of their bodies.

“i love you.” johnny whispers, and he hears taeyong huff a little laugh. 

“and i love you.” he replies in a delicate whisper, and closes his eyes, slowly drifting off. johnny smiles, looking at the discarded blanket at the end of the bed. guess they didn’t need it after all. taeyong’s breathing evens out and johnny looks up to the dark ceiling, laying in the silence for a while as he feels his eyes getting heavier.

“love you too hyungs.” 

and johnny smiles, closing his eyes.

**Author's Note:**

> take a shot every time i wrote softly/gently lmao, comments are greatly appreciated i'm so nervous to post this aa, hope you enjoyed though <333


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